Whenever there’s a chance to look up into the stars and watch as our moon gets covered by the shadow of the Earth, take it. It’s a really amazing thing in life to watch. But when a total lunar eclipse lines up with a town’s fall festival, assume witchcraft. Well, perhaps not witchcraft, but something does go wrong with this premise in Colorfiction’s (the developers behind 0°N 0°W) new title, Ode to a Moon which just got it’s first look at some intensely atmospheric gameplay in their new demo:

In Ode to a Moon players take on the role of a photo-journalist that works for a tabloid who is assigned to go cover a fall festival. Said fall festival is that celebrating the time of harvest and Thanksgiving in the small town Ashfield, Connecticut. There, a total lunar eclipse is happening on the exact same day. With your camera ready in hand, and hoping for an easy article, you get to the small town and discover that everything is about to go horribly wrong.

The game is set during the 1980’s, where there is one major listed total lunar eclipse that had happened during October in 1985 and then a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse during October during 1987. And while the actual lunar eclipse in the game might have some creative liberties taken, it is loosely based on a true event. And while there’s no Ashfield, Connecticut that celebrates a harvest festival, there is an Ashfield, Massachusetts that celebrates the harvest. The game itself is still based around these general New England-ish areas and an eclipse.

The demo shows off what the game will generally look like. While VHS-style game design is nothing unfamiliar, it does beg on whether or not this is more of a found footage (something like the Outlast series) or more of an aesthetic choice (like any Puppet Combo game). However, it still has the photo-journalist show up to Ashfield and witness the eclipse. And from there, a whole lot of things go wrong. The town seemingly delves into madness, the world around the player altering how it looks and at the very end, an unexpected turn.

Ode to a Moon currently has no release date (except it plans to come out during a blood moon, which, here’s a list of the next upcoming lunar eclipses including the next blood-ish moon), but players can play the demo for themselves here. Check out more on the official Steam or itch.io page.